(a) the State/UT-wise percentage of rainfed areas out of the total cultivated area in the country;
(b) the nature of problems being faced in rainfed/degraded areas in the country, State/UT-wise; and
(c) the extent to which watershed development programme has helped in solving these problems?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)
(a)& (b): As per the information of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, the total net sown area in the country is 140.801 million hectare, out of which 75.538 million ha is the net un- irrigated area which is about 53.65 % of the net area sown. The State wise/UT wise details are given at Annexure. The main problems faced in rainfed areas, inter-alia, include low productivity, low cropping intensity, risk of crop damage by drought and floods, soil erosion in high rain fall areas especially in hill slopes.
(c) : As per the report of the Comprehensive Study on Impacts of Investments in Watershed Projects conducted by the National Institute of Rural Development (2013), the Watershed Development Programmes have achieved the following:
# Groundwater table increased by 1.2 meters
# Drinking water availability increased from 68% to 82%
# Cropping intensity increased from 131 to 139
# Soil erosion reduced by 40%
# On an average, in watersheds of around 500 ha, 48.5 ha. of cultivable wastelands were brought under the plough.
# Up to 65 ha area was improved under vegetative cover per micro watershed of 500 ha.
# Overall Milk production increased by 25.64%.